Cause & Effect, Cause & Effect I liked this album back in 1990, and I’m surprised nearly 20 years later, it holds up really well.

detroit7, detroit7 Kind of feels a bit cobbled together — guess they couldn’t license Great ROMANTIC from EMI Japan.

Emmylou Harris, Luxury Liner Once I get the title track of this album in my head, there’s little that can be done to get it out. Not that I mind.

Emmylou Harris, Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town Also a good one, but I think Luxury Liner gets more spins.

FLiP, Haha kara Umareta Hinekure no Uta Of the few Japanese bands I could catch this year at SXSW — which I officially did not attend — FLiP is so far the best. A second mini-album is about to be released.

Gabriel Prokofiev, String Quartet No. 1 (Elysium Quarter) The remixes of this quartet are longer than the quartet’s movements themselves.

LEO Imai, LASER RAIN I was fearful of a sophomore slump, but Imai shakes up his signature Black Sabbath-meets-Kylie Minogue sound just enough to keep listeners reeled in.

Jennifer Koh, String Poetic If Koh came to town to perform the pieces on this album as a recital, I would so be there.

mono, Hymn to the Immortal Wind The orchestras on mono albums just keep getting bigger, but I think this time, it works in the band’s favor.

Morrissey, Years of Refusal I think I like this one better than Ringleaders of the Tormentors. I really ought to start exploring the Smiths — big gap in my music knowledge, especially someone my age.

Office, Mecca It’s one thing to release a good album. It’s another to make it available for free!

Royal Wood, The Lost and Found EP Yes, I downloaded this EP from eMusic because I thought Wood was cute, so it’s kind of frustrating to discover he’s really good. Am I listening based on merit or by pretty? Why not both?

Sasagawa Miwa, miwaBLUE Compared to Jijitsu and Mayoi Naku, this EP is pretty indescript, but unlike Amata or Yoake, it leaves a stronger impression.

STRAIGHTENER, Nexus I guess it was premature to expect LOVE/HATE now that two members of ART-SCHOOL from that album are now part of STRAIGHTENER.

The Bad Plus joined by Wendy Lewis, For All I Care Hot damn! Who could say no to a cover album by the Bad Plus that includes classical works by Ligeti, Babbitt and Stravinsky?

The Replacements, Let It Be (expanded edition) I suspect I’m falling into a Replacements hole …

The Replacements, Don’t Tell a Soul (expanded edition) I don’t object to the commercial sheen of this album, but at the same time, what would have happened if they kept it rough for this one?

Tommy heavenly6, I KILL MY HEART So far only one listen, but it’s enough to notice it’s not as balls-out as the previous albums.

Tommy Keene, In the Late Bright Keene goes for a more programmatic approach with this album.